Shell Shock and Awe: War, Capital and Carnage in Iraq

Christof Bϋchel: "Unplugged (Simply Botiful)"

Pireos 260

7-11pm every day til 6 July 2010

Even after a shower to remove the grime left on my body after visiting this awesome exhibition in Athens I am still reeling from the impact of the installation.

Taking the headline from a UK right-wing tabloid article 'Simply Botiful' Christoph Bϋchel 'forces the viewer to take part in physically demanding and psychologically uncomfortable scenarios'.

In a space 15m x 15m the artist arranges 10 rooms of death and destruction in such a way that you can almost taste the fear of the millions of Iraqi's who were murdered or affected by the so-called War on Terror in Iraq.

And it is certainly not for the faint hearted or easily offended. Using original items recovered from the aftermath of the Iraq war—bullet riddled clothes, photos, pornography, a full bar frequented by the military, voting booths and bomb-making equipment—Buechel gives us a glimpse, a striking insight, of what is daily life for both the invaders and the victims.

The stench is shocking. In one room, a caravan clearly used for soldiers sexual gratification, an airfreshner can sits alongside remnants of women's underwear and fag-butts. Loud, brash American rave music blares from a tiny sound-system and competes for your attention with an Arabic voice coming from a TV in another area.

The contradictions in this exhibition cause confusion. My companion, the cartoonist Carlos Latuff, said 'it causes an inconvienience in my brain...it makes my body feel sick'. It certainly left a foul taste in my mouth.

This exhibition is in no way beautiful. How can it be? 'War is NOT beautiful' Latuff reflected.

Take time to sit in every room, to absorb the atmosphere and to examine every piece of the 1,000's of items to really get a view of Iraq through the eyes of hard core, pro-war American soldiers. Talk to the bar men. Climb up every ladder. Crawl through every hole. Wear sensible clothing.

With politics as good as is display in this installation no doubt the artists price tag of Euro600k covered mainly what I imagine to be very high transportation costs. That profiteering from war comes at a price is thoroughly displayed within this exhibition.

For more details go to: http://tinyurl.com/iraqart

MUTINY @ Resistance Gallery

MUTINY invites you to put MONEY ON TRIAL...

Mutiny presents a series of carnivalesque evenings providing live entertainment and meaningful debates. We are a network of activists who have come together to create an exciting, safe space for discussion, critical theory and alternative media.

Our debut event, Money on Trial, takes place on Thursday, September 24.


There will be three main themes:
Has money destroyed the music business;
Can the money markets deliver on climate change and
Can the government be trusted with our money?

A taste of what can be expected: leader of Pirate Party UK on the implications of filesharing and the onslaught of government reforms trying to be introduced; a showing of the brilliant Greenpeace film A Time Comes about the occupation of Kingsnorth directed by Nick Broomfield; the latest Vestas film from Reel News, a cameo performance from Victory, a hip hop star from the People’s Army collective and comedy from Kate Smurthwaite.

Plus art exhibits from Anna Logophobia, Green artist Kat Austen and the Young Unknowns.

The best part, however, is the audience. I mean, what do we know about anything? We need you to join the Mutiny.

Doors and bar open at 6pm with music and the performances start at 7pm so get there early.

For updates and playlist go to blog at http://jointhemutiny.org/blog 

For map and venue details go to http://resistancegallery.blogspot.com

Mutiny's Money on trial looks a treat. Joint the Mutiny, jump aboard.

Mutiny presents Money on Trial on Thursday, September 24.

Karl Marx described money as the “universal pimp”. But the grumpy German philosopher is dead and the Queen’s head is still on the £10 note. Having no money is depressing. Money means food. Money means paying the rent. Money means getting a round in. But even those with stacks of cash spend their whole lives desperately trying to make more. Money perverts everything it touches. So do we need money? Is it a fact of life the same way as water, gravity or syphilis. Can we run the world without it?

Money on Trial is an evening of engaged debate and entertainment.

There will be three main themes..

Music and resistance: Has money destroyed the music business;
Green money: Can the money markets deliver on climate change and
Government and our money: can the government be trusted with our money?  

Doors open at 6pm with music and the performances start at 7pm so get there early.

Mutiny has adopted and adapted the Red Room meeting format for a series of events themed Money on Trial, Violence on Trial and Love on Trial. Each event will feature live performances, film showings and music. The performers are invited to a round table discussion with speakers and members of the audience.
Each event begins at 6pm and ends at 11pm starting and finishing with an hour of live music and DJs.

The heart of the meeting will be three sessions of 45 minutes which will feature short films, poems, talks, plays and other performances along with discussion around a central “dinner table” with microphones and questions and statements from the audience.

The first event is titled Money on Trial. The first discussion session will open with an examination of the impact of money on the music industry. We will hear from a new generation of rap artists who have rejected the cliché of drugs, guns, cars and sexism in favour of politically engaged performance. This  session will also be examining copyright laws and hope to have a speaker from the appropriately named Pirate Party.

We will then examine Green Capitalism with a short film from director Nick Bloomfield called A Time Comes about the Greenpeace occupation of Kingsnorth; a video on the Vestas occupation and a discussion about whether green investment and legislation can prevent climate change.

Finally, there will be a video performance before a discussion about money and democracy which will look at the issues around MPs expenses, welfare not warfare campaigns and whether the human race actually needs money to exist.

There will be a twitter wall, an exhibition mezzanine and a goody bag of leaflets and information so that everyone can express their creativity, their ideas and their standpoints. We are still open to new ideas to make the event as stimulating and informative as possible.

Here's a glimpse at some of the contributors...

Photographer Anna Logophobia (great name)
Green artist Kat Austen
Reid Dudley-Smith presents on Music and the Internet
People’s Army General VICTORY
War on want campaigns director

and many more...

See the line-up at the News Update section of the blog